A Demonless Haven
by Blazichu
Summary: What would have happened if Jak never had to endure those two years in prison? Well, Haven would be down one rampaging demon. In essence, my version of Jak II. JK pairing -Discontinued, may be rewritten-
1. Before the Beginning

GAH: Here we go! I thought it would be cool to introduce my new story on the last day of school.

Via: -sigh- Okay, let's just get this over with.

GAH: As we have discovered, I don't own the Jak and Daxter franchise.

* * *

To put it simply, the Precursor robot wasn't fairing all that well, one or two good hits on it, and it would be down for the count. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the protagonists, an elf of about 15 years with blond and green bi-colored hair, and the fuzzy orange rodent on his shoulder.

Sure the fireballs were slow and easy to dodge, but that didn't mean all the attacks were as simple to deal with. There were crudely constructed bombs, and red eco land mines, but by far the worst were the creatures made entirely of dark eco. One punch from them would send anyone down. The elf, Jak had learned this the hard way, as he was finding it difficult to recover from the attack.

The wound distracted him for the briefest of moments, but the dark eco sages, Maia and Gol, didn't waste the opportunity The channeler forced himself up off of the ground, with what would have been a groan, had the elf possessed a voice. Then something completely unexpected happened, a white substance rained down in great blobs, each one landing with a splat.

A small glob, with less than a centimeter diameter, landed on Jak's arm, it glowed for a moment, then faded. The elf ran over to where Daxter had landed after the punch. He noted that the pain from all the hits he had attained had dulled until he couldn't feel it anymore. At the sight of the pale substance, Gol reacted in a way that made everyone sure about how to bring the robot down. "Light Eco!" The sage gasped.

"Light eco?" Daxter repeated unnecessarily. "That might be the stuff that can change me back!" The ottsel exclaimed, noticing the exasperated look Jak was giving him. "Or it could destroy the robot…." He added. Jak rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Maia and Gol were panicking, they had deployed several of their bombs. Not that this discouraged Daxter from making a scene. "Save the world…Stay fuzzy…. Choices!" The ottsel exclaimed, the channeler next to him sighed noiselessly. "Okay FINE! We'll do it your way, but be quick. I might change my mind." He added.

In all truth, Jak had stopped listening at "Save the world, stay fuzzy", he didn't feel too guilty, the elf had long since discovered that it was nearly impossible to listen to everything Daxter said.

The channeler deftly seized a blob of light eco, the bombs were ticking down rapidly. It was strange, handling light eco. Everything seemed easier to accomplish, and the threat of the bombs wasn't troubling in the least. Even the task of admitting his feelings toward Keira to the she-elf seemed undaunting. But Jak refocused on the task at hand, the eco seemed to know what to do all on its own, it allowed the channeler to gather it as a projectile, the way one would use yellow eco.

Immediately after the energy hit the robot, the Precursorian artifact dissolved. This wouldn't have been the case had it not been tainted with dark eco. The dark sages tumbled from the robot, into the contents of the silo that they had been planning to unleash apon the world.

It seemed appropriate to rejoin the other sages and Keira, now that the threat was gone for (what they believed to be for) good. So, (still glowing) Jak stepped onto the platform that would take Daxter and him back to the empty silo, where the spectators stood in slight disbelief. While he waited, everything seemed eerily quiet, almost like the calm before a storm. But no one else seemed to notice this, so Jak dismissed it as an illusion due to fatigue. It seemed to take an eternity, (which in reality was only about 30 seconds) but the platform finally reached its destination.

The glow faded from the channeler's body as he stepped onto the silo. "Jak my boy, you did it!" Came the welcome voice of Samos, sage of green eco. But as the elf couldn't say anything, Samos had to settle for the exhausted smile he received in return.

"Whadda ya mean!" Daxter complained. Jak saw it as a minor miracle that the ottsel managed to stay quiet for so long. "I did all the hard work!" Said ottsel exclaimed, giving the channeler the chance to slip out of the spotlight.

Though, when he did, something the elf hadn't ever expected to happen ensued. Keira, the one person Jak loved with all his heart, kissed him. The channeler wished the happiness that one action had encouraged could have lasted a little longer. As the moment was quickly darkened by the rapid return of the pain from his wounds. The sheer force of it almost made the elf lose consciousness. Keira, sensing something was wrong, noticed the injuries for the first time. The she-elf looked back to Jak's face. He managed a reassuring smile, but as a fresh wave of pain racked his body, Keira had to help him stand, lest he fall and hurt himself further. Not that Keira minded in the least, but she was worried, what if he was hurt to badly for the green eco to affect him? What would she do without the channeler? In the back of her mind, the she-elf cursed her luck, she had just worked up the courage to tell Jak how she felt about him. "Daddy!" She cried out to her father.

Samos turned around to face his daughter, but his eyes widened in surprise as he took into account just how many injuries that Jak had sustained. What shocked the sage most though, was the fact that the elf had managed to emerge victorious from the battle in this condition. Light eco merely took the pain of one's wounds away, not heal said wounds. Keira's eyes were filled with tears, ready to run down her face. "Don't worry, we'll get him fixed up." The sage soothed. That was the last thing Jak heard before he finally lost his grip on consciousness.

* * *

GAH: Grr… Now I sound like Vecher. "Tainted with dark eco" blech. Oh well. I'll go take my anger out on Erol in that stupid race… I wanna get the life seed! –sigh- Well, I hope you enjoyed the prologue to my story, and if you take the time to read, won't you please review? 


	2. The Adventure called Haven

**Chapter I: The Adventure Called Haven**

GAH: -Sweatdrop- Sorry it took so long for me to update this story. It's a thrilling tale of hardship, persistance, and...ah heck, who am I kidding? I redid this scene about a million different ways, and I couldn't decide which to use. Plus I really wanted to get a move on some of my later scenes and was kinda preoccupied... (Here's how THAT conversatioin went (Inner GAH): You're going to finish this chapter and you're going to do it now. (GAH): No I'm not. (I GAH): No more planning other scenes until you're done with this chapter. -smug grin- (GAH): I'm going to finish the one I'm on. (I GAH): "No you're not" (GAH): Hmmph -finishes chapter 1-) And that would be proof that I don't own the Jak and Daxter franchise.

* * *

Samos always said that everything in existance faced a trial to become what we know it as today. His favorite examples were the rocks and plants,he had a knack for talking about the two subjects. No one but the sage would every know that he added one to his list mentally. The sage of green eco was, of course, refering to the hero we all know as Jak. 'A champion for all of time' he often mused. The sage sighed, today was the day to set the events of time into action. Despite the knowledge of what would happen if he did so, Samos still wished he could say goodbye to all of them; his beloved daughter Keira, Jak who had been like a son to the elderly sage, and then Daxter, who Samos was actually quite fond of behind all of the insults. It was quite sad, he wouldn't be seeing any of them for quite some time now, but until then, he'd make the best of the time he had with the three. 

With one last sigh, Samos headed toward where the rift rider and ring were set up. There were two elves waiting patiently...two and a half if you counted Daxter as an elf. "Today's the big day Jak," He said to the mute, who (as always)paid the utmost attention to what the sage had to say. "I hope you are prepared for..." The sage hesitated, did he really want to finish that sentence? "whatever may happen..." Oh how Samos hated those words! They had been in his mind, haunting him ever since he learned the gentle mute's role in time. As if waiting for the day he'd have to utter them, and they had won the battle!

"Prepared! Pah! We can handle anything this piece of Precursor junk can throw at us, right Jak?" Daxter excalimed, completely oblivious to the thoughts Samos was dwelling on. Jak glared at Daxter, who got the message of 'Don't talk like that!'"Or not..." The ottsel added quietly. His attention was quickly drawn to some weird knob thing, the rodent was reaching out to see what it did when... "Daxter!" Keira chided, slapping the ottsel's paw away from the machinery."Do you have_any_ idea what you're doing?" The she-elf asked, in a tone that suggested this was a daily event. "Nope." Daxter replied with a lopsided grin. While the two battled it out, Samos had one last thing to do before everything was ready to go. "Don't worry, I know you can make it work." The sage reassured Jak.

A rare look of skeptism flashed across the channeler's face, only when Keira and Daxter finished arguing and looked over at him was that doubtful look replaced by a more confident expression. Jak bravely pressed the shining ruby-like button in the middle of the control pannel. The rift ring began to rotate and thousands of creatures billowed out. These strange creatures with the glowing yellow gems embedded into their skulls would have been quite intimidating on their own, but they _weren't_ on their own. In a matter of seconds a larger, more commanding version of the creatures appeared in the ring. "You cannot hide from me boy!" It roared, almost drowning out Samos' awed (and very quiet) comment of: "So this is how it happened"

Naturally, Daxter panicked, and began pressing every button within reach (which isn't all that impressive). "Do something Jak!" Keira cried fearfully.

The next few moments were especially strange for Jak, he felt eerily calm, it reminded his of the way light eco felt. Silently, he acknowledged the she-elf's request and (though he didn't know why) pressed the ruby-ish button once more. This time, instead of activating the ring, the rift rider started up and zoomed past the odd manifestation of flesh.

"What WAS that...thing?" Keira asked, gripping the side of the rift rider. Her question remained unanswered though, for at that moment the rift rider began to break apart, sending Samos, Keira, and Jak and Daxter flying in different directions. (With the exception of Jak and Daxter, as they were sent in the same direction.)

The duo crash landed in a seemingly abandoned allyway. "Okay, I swear, that's the LAST time I EVER and I mean EVER touch any STUPID. PRECURSOR. JUNK!" Daxter yelled, ever-so-subtly adding to the racket by throwing the metal bar down on the (metal) ground in a fit of rage. But naturally, no such uproar could be ignored for long.

An elf leapt down from one of the buildings in attempt to pin Jak to the ground. The channeler however, was to quick for him, and rolled out of the way before the attacker could do anything potentially harmful. The elf was stunned for a moment, the perfect opening to disarm him. Jak tackled the would-be-attacker, effectivly knocking the dagger out of his hand. Not a moment was wasted as the mute pinned the attacker to the ground, in the very fashion that the mystery elf had tried and failed to complete.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to worry about me. You've proven that you aren't anyone to sneeze at." The would-be-threat reasoned from his helpless postion beneath the Jak. The mute glanced at Daxter who shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it." The ottsel said. Rather grudgingly, Jak let his opponent up, watching every move the elf made as though he would try to attack again. The ginger haired elf lifted himself of of the ground and turned aroung to see the two behind him up close for the first time. He nearly gasped when he did so, this kid couldn't have been over seventeen years old! "I was going to ask what the heck you think you're doing, making that racket," The elf began. "But I have to ask, have you ever considered joining the Underground?" He asked, true to his word.

As expected, Jak said nothing in return, rather, Daxter did for him. "Listen web face." The ottsel began, "I'M the real hero here, he's just along for the ride." Daxter said in his typical fashion. The 'web face' to whom he was speaking to, didn't look impressed. "I'd like to see your moves then." He commented, smirking when the ottsel backed up a step.

The mystery elf turned back toward Jak. "Look kid, I see how you could be pretty shocked by what just happened, but take a leaf from your friend's book and say something!" The would-be-attacker demanded.

Daxter stepped forward again, this time to be a little more helpful. "He can't" The ottsel said, more seriously than he had been for awhile now.

The ginger haired warrior's expression grew unreadable, there were many things that he had done, but demanding that a mute speak was not on the list. 'Oh," He said lamely. "You two have names?" He asked, as though nothing had happened.

This of course, was Daxter's cue. "The name's Daxter, but you can call me Orange Lightning! Zaza zing!" The ottsel exclaimed, immersed in his own little fantasy. "Mind telling me your friend's name?" The elf asked in a tone that suggested that Daxter was pushing it a little too far. "Oh yeah..." The ottsel said, as though he had forgotten anyone else was there. Jak brought a hand to his temple, unable to believe how quickly Daxter had lost focus. "That's Jak." The ottsel said, signaling over his shoulder toward the mute in question, who in turn, looked at the ginger haired elf, as though waiting for someting.

"Name's Torn." The warrior said, turning to reclaim his dagger. "I asked before, and I'll ask again, what would you say to joining the Underground and helping us kick the 'good' Baron's oh-so-loving butt off of the throne?" Torn asked.

"Well technecly, Jak doesn't say-" Daxter began, earning a smack on the back of the head from said mute. "Sure thing." The ottsel said, giving an unenthusiastic thumbs-up and glancing nervously at Jak.

**Thus began the steps toward a new life and new adventure to be found in Haven City.

* * *

**

GAH: Sorry if Torn seems a little out of character, I've never tried doing him before. And don't worry, the next chapter won't take NEARLY as long to put up.


	3. Two years later

**Chapter II: Two years later**

GAH: Thanks for being so patient guys, it took me longer than I would have liked to get this thing up. My dad told me the wrong date for our trip, (it was a fairly long trip) ; and before anyone else asks, I know it isn't precursor junk, but I'm really against swearing... Anywho, let's get going! (To answer another question, the rest of the story is coming silly!)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Jak and Daxter franchise!

* * *

We rejoin our heroes two years after they crash-landed in this strange new city called 'Haven'. And if there was one thing they'd learned it was that the name was misleading. On the brighter side, Jak had become, possibly one of the most valuable fighters in the underground, fully trained in both hand-to-hand combat, _and_ in using weapons. 

The mute in question was currently fast asleep in the room he had been issued apon joining the underground. His arm was hanging limply off the side of the bed, just far enough for the tips of his fingers to touch the floor. He was on the edge of the mattress, perfectly balanced, it looked like if you so much as _looked_ at him hard enough, he'd fall off.

It had been a particularly hard week, and it showed, every time Jak turned around, there was something else that needed to be done. Groggily, he opened his eyes and glanced around the room. Daxter was curled up at the foot of the bed, completely oblivious to everything around him, or so it seemed. The channeler arose from the bed and swatted a strand of hair out of his face.

Sure he might have looked a little different, but being the go-to-guy for Torn, Jak didn't really have time to worry about his appearance. Plus the weather wasn't anything like it used to be in Sandover, the temperature was lower, generally speaking, and his old sleeveless tunic wasn't going to cut it. The same went for his sandals, the mute had opted for boots over anything else. The only other differences were that he now wore a red scarf around his neck, and that his hair was longer than it had been before.

* * *

(A/N, he looks like he usually would in Jak II, but has anyone else noticed that Torn and Jinx wear red scarves too? Seriously! Check 'Jinx has a plan' in Jak 3, you'll see!... Hey, that rhymed…)

* * *

Jak picked his goggles up off of the nightstand and put them on, keeping his hair out of his face. He looked back at Daxter, the ottsel was sleeping as soundly as he was two minutes ago. Jak sighed, he might as well wake his friend up now, not that it was going to be enjoyable for anyone involved. He reached down to tap Daxter on the shoulder, but his hand never actually reached the ottsel. 

Instead, the mute got a faceful of pillow as Daxter scurried off, laughing as only he can. Jak rolled his eyes and put the pillow back on the bed.

"I gotcha that time!" Daxter exclaimed proudly from the nightstand, leaning against the lamp. As you might have expected, the lamp tipped over...onto Daxter's tail, effectively immobilizing the ottsel.

For a moment Jak considered his options, on one hand he could leave the lamp there for a couple minutes and (hopefully) teach his friend a lesson, or...

"Ow!" Daxter yelled, as the realization hit him, about as hard as the lamp had. Naturally Jak took the second course of action, the "right" thing, and removed the lamp from the ottsel's tail.

"Okay….that's the _last_ time I do that….." Daxter grumbled, hopping from the nightstand to Jak's shoulder.

As expected, Torn had something for the duo to do the moment they emerged from the room. "You know that banner in Dead Town?" The rebel asked.

"…What about it?" Daxter replied suspiciously.

"None of the newbies have been able to reach the dumb old thing, care to show them how it's done?" Torn asked with a smirk.

The look on Jak's face was easy to read, 'That's all?' it said. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty for you two to screw up later." The second in command said, rolling his eyes.

Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder. "I resent that!' He complained.

"Jak messed up on the last mission!" The ottsel exclaimed, conveniently forgetting to mention that the only reason the mission had gone awry was because he had managed to lose his balance rather high up… Jeeze, who woulda known that pebbles were potential hazards to ottsels?

With an inaudible sigh, Jak placed Daxter back on his shoulder and headed in the general direction of Dead town. Precursors only knew how they could manage to screw this one up…..

* * *

The ride _itself_ could have been considered a disaster. Sure he could ride the old A-grav zoomer without calamity, but Jak just couldn't get the hang of how to work these more advanced ones…. 

As compensation for this _small_ problem, the mute resolved to go as fast as possible, hopefully hiding the fact that his knowledge of these zoomers was possibly surpassed by a crocadog….

* * *

At the pace the two were going, it was no wonder they reached Dead Town so quickly. Have you ever had the chance to see ooblek in action? It's a mixture of cornstarch and water, and it travels in much the same way Daxter got off of the zoomer. In a slow, unsteady drip. Jak rolled his eyes and seized the ottsel, then proceeded toward the entrance to Dead town. 

The mechanical doors unlocked with a click and opened, allowing anyone daft enough to leave the 'safety' of Haven's walls, access. Several frog-like creatures were hopping around the outside of the door. All three of them turned their heads unanimously at the sound of the doors being opened, it would have been a truly humorous sight to anyone outside said doors. As Jak stepped out into their territory, the creatures (called Goobers by the ever-so-lovable people of Haven city) croaked a battle-cry and attacked.

It wasn't too daunting, the slimy green amphibians could only take one good punch. Jak leapt over the first goober, and landed on the second in one fluid motion. One down, two to go. Pathetic. The one that was now situated behind the mute, thought it saw an opening, and attacked, it would be the last mistake the amphibian ever made.

Jak flipped back over the first and (right before landing) sent the toad-frog mutant flying higher in a swift uppercut. The third goober was by far the easiest to handle, with a pitiful croak, it turned tail and fled into the 'water'.

"Buh-bye ya stupid reptiles!" Daxter yelled. Jak held a hand up to his temple, it was times like this that he wished the ability to speak hadn't been denied to him.

The rest of the trip wasn't too eventful, a couple of snorkletooths (the orange things with the fangs) tried to ambush the duo, to no avail. The old buildings, though they may not served as shelter, were surprisingly useful bridges. Even if the stone didn't look anymore reliable than the water….

Out of everything in Dead Town, the stone tower was the worst though. The makeshift steps leading to the banner were cracked with age, and had endured much at the hands of the weather. All in all, a metal head couldn't trust them with its thoughts, few and far between as they may have been. Jak and Daxter were even more hesitant to leave their lives to this pathetic excuse for stone, and honestly, who wouldn't be?

* * *

((A/N It took me forever to come up with the metal head line, if it sounds lame, don't blame me. It was an hour-long case of writer's block!))

* * *

After a few moments of thinking, Daxter pointed out the obvious. "It's the only way up." The ottsel said pointedly. 

Jak hesitated, took a deep breath, and then jumped onto the first of the blocks, and without a second thought, leapt to the next, then to the next and so on. Predictably, the stone disintegrated almost as soon as he landed on it, and it was only due to the concentration that had been put into the task they didn't fall to their deaths. The stone steps were just that, stone, and they could only take so much abuse before crumbling.

Daxter hopped down from his friend's shoulder and attempted to pry Praxis' banner from the cracked ground, without success. The ottsel tried a couple more…interesting methods before Jak took pity on him and tugged it from its hole in the rock.

"Why'd you do that!" Daxter demanded. "I had it under control!" The rodent complained.

But before anymore could be said or done, the tower began to collapse, it seemed that the removal of the banner was all the encouragement it needed.

The two tumbled down, landing on a tarp that had been pulled taut, giving it the effect a trampoline would have. Jak, not missing the chance for a dramatic entrance, spotted a cord, and slid down to the ground on it, completely unaware that he was going to be upstaged by Daxter…

The ottsel in question had attempted to follow his childhood friend, without success. He landed on the cord, but not with his feet, oh no, not by a long shot. Instead he landed in a…rather sensitive spot, and was sent flying even higher in the air, before landing safely on the ground….with his face.

* * *

Torn had been waiting for a couple of minutes, as usual a new mission needed to be completed. The rebel was slightly worried when he realized the two were nowhere in sight…and apparently not moving. But he dismissed the possibility without another thought, and his faith was rewarded as he saw Jak racing up the unsteady old bricks in attempt to reach the banner. He waited while Daxter tried to pull the flag from the stone, to no avail of course. 

The real shock came as the building caved in, and the two fell. Try as he might to hide it, Torn was actually quite fond of both Jak and Daxter, though the latter tended to get on the rebel's nerves a lot more. The fact that two of the only people in the Underground he cared to call his friends could possibly be dead unnerved him. He was relieved when he caught sight of Jak sliding down a cord, but the absence of Daxter puzzled him until the ottsel landed right next to Torn. He had to admit, as annoying as the rodent was, he was good for a laugh.

Torn smirked as Daxter got back up. Jak was shaking with silent laughter as he returned the ottsel to the usual perch on his shoulder. "Whadda ya want Torn?" The ottsel asked icily.

"The baron's getting desprate." Torn said a hint of guilt hidden deep in his voice. "He's shut off all the water to the slums, just to get to the Underground." The rebel said, pausing to let this new development sink in.

He knew to continue when Daxter's self-satisfied expression changed to one of the deepest disgust, though Jak was obviously thinking ahead, judging by the enraged expression on his face. "Innocent lives will be lost if we don't do something." Torn added, the depression in his voice even cut through Daxter's good mood.

"We're on it." The ottsel said, voicing both Jak's and his own thoughts.

And without any further instructions, the mute was racing off to the Pumping Station. For the first half of the trip, Daxter stayed quiet, but the ottsel broke the silence as they reached the water-deprived slums. (Granted, that wasn't very long at the pace Jak was driving at…)

"I wonder how things turned out for Keira and ol' log nog…" The ottsel said, sadly voicing a fear both he and Jak had been dwelling on, it seemed as though Torn's gloom was rubbing off on everybody…

* * *

Keira hadn't ended up too bad off, her mechanical know-how had landed her a career in the racing business. Better yet, the job provided her with any and every tool needed to construct a new rift rider. 

Two problems though, one was that she had only seen the rider once, how effective was the product of all her work _really_ going to be? The second problem was a little more pressing though, she happened to be missing two of the vital components, the Heart of Mar gem and the Time map. _Figures,_ she thought dryly.

The mechanic hadn't been too worried about the machine though, because the issue at hand was too agonizing to be ignored. What use would the rift rider be if Keira never found the others? What if something had happened to them? She'd never forgive herself if something _had_ come about during her absence.

* * *

((A/N You can tell how I'd make her feel in the _actual_ version of Jak II since something _did_ happen… oohh, that could turn out to be potentially embarrassing…. –runs off and re-writes script for a latter scene- (distantly) Wait…. I need to finish the Chapter… -runs back to Ch3-))

* * *

What if they had ended up in that prison? The city's sorry excuse for law enforcement wouldn't have a problem finding something to use against them. After all Daxter appeared to be an overgrown rat at first glance, the fact that he could talk wouldn't help the weirdness at all. 

Keira wasn't sure, but she hadn't met anyone in Haven City who couldn't talk, heck, everyone in _Sandover_ could talk, everyone that was, except Jak. And that detail wouldn't have a positive effect on the guards either. Those stupid guards would try to arrest someone for _sneezing_ too close to them.

((Sorry Silver-WindScar, I had a MAJOR case of writer's block and couldn't think of anything else… Forgive me? Pretty please? They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery!))

There were vicious rumors floating around about the going-on's in that place, the scary thought was that the Baron had approved of them! Not that Keira was a fan of Praxis, not by a long shot, in her humble opinion he was the worst thing to the city.

One of her clients had told her about the former king of Haven, a benevolent man by the name of Damas. One day, he and his family just vanished and both Keira and the woman telling her the tale were sure that Praxis had something to do with it. The whole thing was too suspicious, why would such a beloved ruler disappear like that?

To her surprise, the mechanic found herself wondering how different the city would be under the rule of King Damas. There wouldn't be an Underground group, plotting to overthrow him, that was for sure. It was without dispute, Praxis was the worst thing to have happened to Haven City.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Pumping Station the duo of Jak and Daxter had just found the valve to return the water to the slums. 

((A/N Does anyone else find it odd that Torn didn't actually say _where _to go? And _no_ I'm not hinting at anything, this is a JakKeira fic people! I just kinda forgot to put that in… plus I like talking about a sad Torn, sometimes I forget that he's huma- elven for pete sake!))

"Ah, the valve!" Daxter exclaimed, running up to said piece of equiptment. "Allow me." The ottsel said, attempting to turn the valve.

Jak rolled his eyes, this was going to be Dead Town all over again… Daxter tried with all his might (as _much_ as that may be…) but the valve was just as determined to stay as it was. Finally the diminutive rodent gave up, and leaned against a pipe to catch his breath.

Seizing the opportunity, Jak turned the valve effortlessly, and the water ran freely out of the pipelines. (Maybe size _does_ matter!) Unfortunately for Daxter, the ottsel was leaning against the opening of a pipe….

Jak blinked. _Now_ where had Daxter gotten off to? The metallic thuds gave his positioning away though. And after every thunk, you could hear the ottsel begging for help. Jak sighed and jumped from the ledge, down to the end of the pipe.

"Jak, please help." Daxter pleaded from inside the plumbing.

The mute rolled his eyes and thumped the pipe, Daxter shooting out as a result. Jak looked at the soaking wet ottsel in an amused way.

"Okay, I get it! Next time, YOU turn the valve!" He yelled.

((A/N Darn it! That would usually be one of my favorite lines from Jak II! But the fact that Jak can't talk kinda messed it up! –sigh- He won't _actually_ be granted that ability for awhile now….))

* * *

The two were on their way back to HQ when Jak abruptly stopped the zoomer right in front of a run down shack. Daxter, who hadn't been paying attention, was sent flying forward by the sudden halt. He was yelling something about 'give an ottsel a warning' when the mute opened the door. 

"Woah," Daxter said, cutting his rant short. Inside the hut sat a precursor made oracle, just like the ones from Sandover. "It's one of those googly eyed precursor-" The ottsel cut his sentence short with one glance at the steely-eyed glare Jak was throwing his way. "..Things" He ended lamely.

"Greetings great warrior." The oracle said, rumbling to life. "As the judgment day of your planet draws nearer, the obstacles to overcome grow more powerful. Your long awaited return brings a great hope to the creators of your world." The ancient statue said.

Daxter looked back at Jak. "Did you understand ANY of that?" The ottsel asked. Miraculously, he had understood part of it, the judgment day part was a complete mystery to him. But why would the Precursors want him to come to Haven City?

The oracle paused, seemingly confused by the lack of understanding. "I see…you do not realize your role in time yet… how strange." The statue mused.

"If you're gonna keep yappin' to yourself, I'm outta here!" Daxter complained.

"Do what you wish animal." The oracle replied, unfazed. "I have no business with you."

The ottsel stared at the statue in disbelief, the precursor oracles were _not_ supposed to act like _that!_ So, without another word (and that in _itself_ is an accomplishment) he stormed out of the shack, muttering angrily about being called an animal.

"I assume you wish to know why I summoned you." The stone statue asked. "As I was saying, we are fortunate you have returned, great warrior. For anyone without the pure gift of the precursors could not even hope to stand a chance against the trials to come." The great stone continued.

When this failed to inspire any answer from Jak, something seemed to click in the oracle's stony mind. "I had almost forgotten…" It mused. "The light always demands a payment in return for its power. It has robbed you of your voice, has it not?"

Unfortunately, poor Jak was completely lost by this point, and feeling terribly uneducated, so he settled for nodding. This did not go unnoticed by the oracle, however. It sighed, a raspy noise that sounded like two stones being rubbed together vigorously.

"You will understand in time." It assured the mute. "But for now, it is time to enhance the gift you have paid so dearly for, so that it can be of use to you."

Before anymore could be said or done, the oracle released a beam of light eco that hit Jak squarely in the chest. The unexpected surge of power forced him to double over, and he realized that, at this one moment, he was being exposed to more eco than he had ever come in contact with. (I mean during his whole life)

After what seemed like forever, Jak realized he was on the ground. He tried to get up, but found that all the strength had been sapped out of him. This did not come as a surprise though… So instead of rising to his feet, the mute settled for rising a few inches from the ground and thinking wryly to himself: _It'll be a miracle if I stop glowing before the week's up._

But what came next startled the channeler. _What's wrong with glowing?_ A voice asked. Caught completely off guard, Jak fell back to the floor. And of _course_ Daxter chose _that_ time to reenter the hut….

Controlling the urge to yell at the top of his lungs, the ottsel asked as calmly as he could: "_What_ did I miss!"

The oracle seemed determined to ignore the rodent's question, and went right on along with his unclear speech. "Your planet has indeed left its fate in good hands." It said. Jak could feel his friend's eyes on him, he glanced at the ottsel as he pushed himself up off the ground, catching the tiny gasp said ottsel let escape.

You had to see it from Daxter's point of view, as long as he had known Jak, he had also known the channeler's clear blue eyes. But as his best friend glanced at him, his eyes were no longer blue, but a bright burning white. As the mute looked at Daxter questioningly, the ottsel found all words but three had deserted him. He had seen that look possibly a thousand times, but now…. "It's just…" He began, "…nothing…."

"Warrior," The oracle said, drawing all eyes (however strange) back to itself. "In order to save your world you must understand the light to its fullest extent. Let nothing hinder or intimidate you. It pains me to say this, but for the time, I can tell you no more." And with those final words, the oracle's presence departed.

"Any idea how to stop the glow?" Daxter asked, trying to hide the hopefulness in his voice, the channeler's eyes just… creeped him out. The mute in question shook his head. _I have an idea…._ The bodiless voice from earlier offered. Once again, Jak wondered where it came from, but he wasn't about to refuse help with this…minor problem.

_Just relax for a minute…_ It said. Not knowing what else to do, the mute followed the instructions given to him, and found that control over his actions was slipping away from him. Gradually, the glow receded as did the presence that had possessed the elf.

"How'd ya do that?" Daxter asked. Jak shook his head in confusion, trying to comprehend the last ten minutes. _Well, I can't say today has been boring._ He thought as the two exited the hut and re-boarded the zoomer. _I'll say._ Said the voice….

* * *

GAH: Did anyone miss the pumping station crud? I hope not, I hate that place, maybe _that's_ why I skipped it…. There was an interesting spelling error in here, when I was typing 'oracle' I accidentally typed 'orcycle' …Maybe it should be 'orsicle'? ;; Well, at least it's good for a laugh…. Hehe… I'm gonna have fun with 'the voice' not that's a complicated mystery to solve for anyone who's played Jak 3….. Hope you guys liked the extra-long chapter, I felt really bad about leaving you hanging for so long... 


	4. Weight of the world

GAH: Guys, I am SO sorry this chapter took me so long. But before I explain that, I'd like to clear something up. I'm REALLY against swearing, pretty much only because it gets me in trouble. -.- But now my mom told me I can use some of those swearwords in my writing, so long as I don't read out loud. She's the one of the reasons this chapter took so long too. I was allowed to get a PSP because of the price drop, three guesses which game I got first. But to allow you time to think, the other reason was that my modem at home went dead, and I'm updating from the local library. And the game was... Daxter! I almost killed the final boss, but he got a cheap hit in on me. It makes me madder than a swarm of wumpbees!

Via: -- First sign of madness, making up sayings about a fictional world.

GAH: **_FICTIONAL?!?!

* * *

_**

One would guess that Torn had been waiting for Jak and Daxter to return, because it wasn't even three seconds before he hunted them down in order to give the two a new mission. "What took you so long?!" The rebel demanded turning away from them to inspect a blue print of some sort.

"We got…er…held up." Daxter replied, glancing momentarily at Jak. The mute was oblivious to this however; he was staring resolutely in the other direction.

"Stupid Krimson Guards" Torn said, assuming they meant the 'law enforcement' had gotten in the way. "Speaking of those idiots, I've got a new mission of the utmost importance."

Daxter just stood there for a moment, then something seemed to click. "Giving us all the crappy missions again, eh?!" The ottsel yelled, obviously forgetting his perch happened to be right next to a certain warrior's ear.

The warrior in question wasn't about to forget though. He took a minute to glare at Daxter, then his gaze returned to the far corner of the room.

In all honesty, he was appalled that neither of his companions were it paying any attention. No more than 10 minutes had passed since his last brush with the abnormal, and now something strange was happening again. It was standing right next to Torn, its whole body the color of light eco and glowing faintly. Strangest of all were its eyes, which lacked pupils and irises.

The creature was staring at the rebel it stood next to, but it seemed to sense Jak's eyes on it, and turned to face him. It blinked, tilted its head, and asked in a strange, soothing voice: "That's Torn?"

But Jak didn't have time to acknowledge the creature's question, he had zoned out during a 'fairly' loud argument between Daxter and Torn. "For the LAST time fuzz-ball, this has NOTHING to do with those photos of Errol unbalancing a chemical equation." The latter growled.

Daxter backed up a few steps, unwittingly falling off the table in the process. Almost automatically, Jak swooped in to catch the rodent. This would be the twelfth time this month. "Nice catch" Said three voices. Torn's slightly sarcastic one, Daxter's relieved one, and the voice of the glowing creature in the corner.

He didn't make any move to reply non-verbally though, instead he pondered where he had heard the unrealistic voice of the entity who was still examining Torn, as though deciding what to make of him.

The elf in question had launched into a 'detailed' explanation of the next mission. "Word on the street is that the KG have a new weapon, it's most likely that they're going use to blow our butts to the moon and back." The rebel droned on in all-too-Torn-like way.

There was a brief laugh from the corner of the room, or what must have been a laugh, it was hard to tell with the creature. But despite the confusion, it said; "Well he _is_ Torn." It paused for a moment, as though it had confused itself, then asked; "Isn't he?"

Could the being hear his thoughts? That was probably the case, but now wasn't the time to figure it out. Besides, if Jak missed too much of Torn's rant he'd be in trouble when he set out to complete this new mission.

"-Just allowing the KG to 'Have their weapons and use them too' so to speak, wouldn't be in our best interests if you get the point. So you're going to go and destroy this thing before it can be used against us." The rebel declared, walking off to annoy the heck out of some other unfortunate soul. And with that, Jak and Daxter understood themselves to be dismissed.

* * *

Daxter was in the security room messing with the cameras in attempt to find this mysterious weapon. In a failed attempt to bring some cheerfulness to the mission he had begun chanting "Seen it, rerun, eww.." as though he was watching tv, while actually checking the different security tapes.. But the recital was falling on deaf ears as far as the ottsel could see. Jak was on the other side of the room, keeping an eye out for any KG patrols

What Daxter _didn't_ see was the creature behind himself, who was watching his actions carefully. It turned away with a disgusted look on its face just as-

"Woah! I didn't know Krimson Girls took showers here!" The rodent exclaimed.

The being kept its face turned away from the screen and asked; "Is he supposed to be doing that?" Clearly oblivious that, despite the fact that he was not, Daxter wasn't going to be deterred. Though a good glare usually got the ottsel back on track.

That was exactly what Daxter received too, when he had stopped doing his job for at least thirty seconds, and feminine cries could be heard from the tape, Jak turned toward the ottsel, determinedly facing away from the screen, and glowered at the ottsel, who immediately continued his chant of "Seen it, rerun, eww, bleh…"

After a few minutes though, instead of "Seen it" which should have come next, the rodent yelled; "Ah-ha!" Causing the other two inhabiting the room, to give a surprised flinch. Displayed on the monitor was a very large, and very grey missile. Undoubtedly created to make its target very, _very_ dead.

"Wow," The glowing…thing breathed, half astonished that someone could create something so destructive, half revolted that someone _would_. Next to it, Jak nodded and headed for the door, signaling for Daxter to follow. Instead the ottsel held up his paw and flipped back to the locker room camera.

An immediate scream pierced the air, and was followed shortly by a loud crack as the cameral was presumably punched out. Hopefully by a fully-clothed she-elf. Jak, who was already at the door, shook his head exasperatedly, though couldn't stop himself from wondering how the girls had known they were being watched.

The entity was by his side, apparently disapproving of Daxter's behavior. The elf checked the hallway, he was sure they had spent too much time here…And sure enough, he was greeted by the sound of twenty or so metal boots making their daily rounds. It seemed the missile wasn't as defenseless as they had previously believed. _There isn't any way we can get past without having to kill half of them…_ The mute thought. Granted, this wouldn't have been a problem for someone else in the underground, who might've slain all the guards in the way to complete his mission. But Jak was notorious for sparing as many lives as possible, and ten was too high a body count, heck, two was too high a body count for the channeler.

"I have an idea…" Came the light being's voice. _That_ was where he'd heard the voice before! It was the same one who had startled him in the oracle's hut. And that was the same _thing_ it had said then too… "I don't have to come into contact with you this time…" It offered uneasily, as it too had been uncomfortable in their last meeting…

Jak nodded, and the figure stepped out into the corridor facing away from the door. It didn't look as though anything had happened from the mute's point of view, but the guards were panicking, trying to shoot the creature. To them had it just appeared out of thin air? Never-the-less, it was proving to be a wonderful distraction.

Even though the bullets seemed not to be fazing it, they would sooner or later, and Jak was worried for it, though with a second glance at the frenzy at the other end of the hall, you could see that every time the entity was shot at, the projectile flew right through it, not doing any damage in the slightest.

The commotion seemed to reawaken Daxter to the world around him, and in a flash, the rodent was right beside his best friend, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape at the spectacle before him. The ottsel quickly glanced at Jak and then returned his relentless gaze back to the smirking figure.

Aware that Daxter wasn't about to move without encouragement, Jak picked the ottsel up and ran, unnoticed, past the fleet of terrorized KG's.

It wasn't long before the same elf was wincing as a bullet whizzed past his ear, fired by the defense mechanism behind him. The tank in question wasn't letting up, and even though elves run low on energy eventually, machines take much longer to wear out.

Unfortunately, Jak happened to _be_ an elf, though, an incredibly swift one. A red beam appeared on the ground next to him, and, momentarily, he picked up the pace to avoid becoming the machine's next kill.

Up ahead the air shimmered as the glowing entity that had helped earlier re-appeared, smirk no longer present on its visage. Had it had irises or pupils, it would have rolled its eyes as a bullet flew through its upper arm, but as he currently didn't, the fact remained unseen.

Scouring the immediate area for something, _anything_ that could be of use in the situation, they momentarily found refuge behind some unrecognizable equipment. Predictably, a bullet found it's way through the unfortunate heap of scrap. But the "heap of scrap' was more than it appeared to be, as a clear computerized voice said; "Cooling systems damaged, please cease fire."

The tank, whose job it was to protect the new weapon at all costs, obviously did not heed it's warning though. It was almost cruel how ironic this would be in the end, but seeing as the tank was currently trying to rip the protagonists apart, we can spare no pity for it.

That was the perfect way to hit two birds with one stone. If they could get the cooling system deactivated, the missile would overheat and take out the tank. Without a moment's hesitation, Jak ran toward the next 'heap of scrap' to see if the same trick would work twice.

Sure enough, it did, and the other cooling system met the same sticky end. While some were merely shot until deactivating, others were less mercifully disposed of, as the tank actually _ran over_ them.

"Warning, cooling system dysfunctional, Detonation it 10-" The computer voice warned. This, clearly was the time to make an escape. The only thing they'd reach in time was a window, though, and they _happened_ to be on the third floor. There were two options; Jump, or be blown to bits.

Daxter didn't overlook this _minor_ detail, and before his elven friend decided to try this impossible feat, the ottsel muttered; "You've gotta be kidding me."

As a rare stroke of _good_ luck, there were several flag poles on the way down, easy enough to use in getting down. Jak flipped in mid-air and grabbed a hold of one, flipping again and grabbing the next, unknowingly losing his furry companion in the process.

Just as he landed on the ground, the top of the building vanished in a raging flame. With all the weapons in it, it was only a matter of time before it blew completely.

But where the heck was Daxter? The ottsel was never around when you needed him! It only took a second to find his fuzzy little friend, who was clearly dizzy and disoriented. It was a proverbial race against the clock.

Not stopping for a nano-second, Jak scooped the rodent up and ran as far as he could before the majority of the building was consumed by the livid flame.

Moments later the could-be-angel jumped down from the burning second story, completely unharmed, coming as close to rolling its eyes as it could. But the closer it got, its annoyed expression changed to a gentler, yet slightly sad, smile. Probably because they went through the trouble of trying to save the guards when they had just met their demise in the explosive inferno.

"You know, he isn't going to wake up for sometime" It said by way of greeting. Jak wasn't so sure though, if there was anything that freaked Daxter out it was the way he operated a zoomer.

* * *

Surprisingly, the ottsel remained unconscious when Jak returned to the hideout. Even more surprising was the fact that Torn didn't automatically give him a new mission as he walked in the door. Instead, the rebel smirked at the sight of him.

"Typical." He said. "You get back an hour early, looking like you stayed three hours late." Torn shook his head in an amused way.

"Go patch yourself up. And do me a favor," He added as Jak began to head for his room. "Don't wake _him_ up." The second-in-command added, indicating toward Daxter.

Jak was surprised to find that the ethereal creature was already waiting for him, grinning. "I told you he wouldn't be awake" It said. But as it glanced back at him, the grin quickly changed into an anxious frown. "Have you thought about treating that scratch?" It asked.

Curious, the mute raised a hand to his cheek, and was shocked that it had blood on it when he took it away. The whole time they were gone, the only thing he felt that was close to pain was the heat of the machinery.

He was about to ask the light being how it could understand him, but before he got the chance to interrogate it, Daxter woke up.

"Man that stung!" The ottsel yelled, sitting bolt upright. "Woah, déjà vu…"

* * *

Jak wasn't completely sure how he had gotten into _this_ predicament. He was rocketing through the city on a zoomer with at least ten KG's racing after him. Usually this wouldn't have been too much of a problem, nor would it be too abnormal, but there happened to be some 'very important' eco ore strapped to the back of the zoomer, and it couldn't be damaged too heavily.

_Maybe_, The mute thought wryly, _this little run in with the law could have been avoided. If, that was, Torn decided to tell me unauthorized possession of eco ore was illegal!_ Though, truth be told, it wasn't _all_ Torn's fault, bumping into a KG speeded bike hadn't really helped matters any. Gradually, the sirens faded into the distance, only to roar back to life in a different sector. Somewhere out there, some poor citizen was getting the stuffing kicked out of him or her.

The rest of the trip went rather smoothly by their usual standards though, and surprisingly soon they reached the Hip Hog Heaven bar. Personally, Jak hated these kinds of missions, these places were usually filled with smoke, and some of the creepiest people hung around in them.

Plus Daxter got kind of weird when he had too much to drink.

The mute shuddered at the memory of the latest incident. From then on Daxter wasn't allowed to drink on missions, that went double for any fluorescent colored liquids.

Apon entering the establishment, the two were greeted by a dark skinned elf, armored by the bones of metal-heads fitted together to create what was surely a very strong defense.

"You cherries delivering the…er…'goods'?" He asked.

Jak nodded, Daxter was on the verge of saying something, but miraculously, decided not to.

"Then you'll be wanting to talk to Krew." The dark skinned elf said, "He's over there." He added, signaling to the back of the pub.

For the second time in his life, Jak was glad he couldn't talk, or he might have said something completely uncomplimentary about Torn's 'source'. It goes without saying that Daxter on the other hand, was completely free to do so. And, for that matter, he did.

"Oh. My. God. That is the single fattest man I have _ever_ seen!"

That comment earned the ottsel a stern glare, but it was true. The man was so obese his legs couldn't support his own weight. He was kept upright, only with the help of a hovering seat that displayed his scrawny legs grotesquely.

Rather unwillingly, they walked toward 'Krew', and Jak presented him with the package of eco ore.

"So you've delivered it in one piece, eh?" The great lump of an elf said, "Very fortunate on your part. This cargo is worth more than your lives." Unfortunately, he hadn't finished yet.

"You know boy, you've got some potential. Keeping those _ridiculous_ Krimson Guards at bay until they lost interest-"

_Yeah, you could say they lost interest. If you count refocusing their efforts on some poor elf is considered losing interest. _Jak thought as the same shimmering light appeared in the corner.

"-not an easy feat, though not entirely impressive." Krew continued, unaware of the stunned being, blinking, as though it couldn't quite believe what it was seeing.

It was actually a very amusing sight, and the mute had to keep himself from smiling, a rather difficult achievement under the circumstances.

"Have a go at the gun course, eh? See if you have what it takes?" Krew said, handing the warrior a morph gun with a scatter mod.

* * *

Long story short, the gun course wasn't even _close _to a challenge. The light creature had decided to follow, and accidentally got 'struck' as a metal-head shaped target popped in in front of it. Still a bit dazed by the size of Krew, it settled for 'rolling' its eyes and trailing behind and Jak made his way through the rest of the course.

When he exited the course, the previously mentioned blob was outside of it, attempting to keep his expression bored and uncaring. To it's-er _his_ left, stood the dark skinned elf, grinning.

"We've gotta team up sometime, cherry." He said, "Name's Sig."

Jak nodded and glanced at Daxter, who was already into a great introduction of 'Orange Lightning'. As usual, the mute glared at his friend, who took the hint, and quickly wrapped up his overly extravagant intro, and added a quick "And this is Jak" Like he always did.

* * *

GAH: Woops, I forgot the disclaimer…Well, it you've read the earlier disclaimers you know I don't own this beloved franchise. You know, I was rather pleased with the name of this chapter when I made it up. –Points to Krew- But now it seems really stupid. -.-;

Via: Just like you!

GAH: You don't need to be so blunt. –slinks off to write next chapter-


End file.
